Northwood kept the momentum going when they beat Clifton 5 – 1 in their opening encounter of the KZN Schools night league on Wednesday night.
The schools night league see’s some creative changes to the standard format of the game where teams play three 15 minute chukka’s and penalty corners are replaced by an 8 second 1 on 1 with the goal keeper.
Northwood opened the scoring in the first chukka through Matthew de Sousa when he wrong footed the Clifton keeper in a 1 on 1. Clifton answered back almost immediately with a fantastic reverse stick finish.
The second chukka saw Northwood start to create more chances and goals by Dale van der Merwe and Matthew de Sousa gave them a 3 – 1 lead going into the third chukka.
Clifton played some great hockey but were unable to take their chances in the circle. With 7 minutes remaining Clifton were unfortunate to have their keeper injured and were forced to play with a kicking back. Northwood seized the opportunity to score two more goals through Dale van der Merwe and Steve McManus.
